Now Moses was there with YHWH forty days and forty nights.  He did not eat bread or drink water, but carved the words of the covenant on the tablets, the '10 Words.' (Exodus 34:28; see Deuteronomy 4:13 and 10:4)

Why Study these "10 Words"?

Because they are altogether the very words of God! (Exodus 20:1)  The comprehensiveness of the claim made by the prologue to the 10 Commandments is extraordinarily direct even for Scripture.  In the KJV it says, "God spake all these words."  The Bible is in many places less direct and more circumspect.  God is understood everywhere as the "author" (the source or impulse and origin) of Scripture, but often this word from God comes to us less directly, through marred and fallible human examples or from sinful lips.  But here God speaks directly to all the people.  Here God is quoted for us directly and extensively, heightening for us the importance of these particular words.  The impact of the first verse of Exodus 20 is "Listen Up!"  If ever you wanted and needed to hear something being said, that time is now and that place is here.

Another indication of the importance of these "10 Words" is the emphasis placed on them by the fact that they are repeated almost verbatim.  The words are the same, but the context has changed.  In Deuteronomy 5:1-6 the impact is somewhat less immediate than in Exodus 20.  For one thing, years have now passed between the original event and its retelling.  The people of Israel are no longer at Mount Horeb (or Sinai).  They are now, finally, forty years later, on the verge of the Promised Land.  They have traveled far and experienced much since these "10 Words" were first spoken.  For another, the role of Moses as mediator is emphasized in Deuteronomy more than it was in Exodus.  These words are still God's words (note the use of "I" in Deuteronomy 5:6), but they are being repeated as an echo; they are a reminder of words once heard directly from the mouth of a much younger Moses (Deuteronomy 5:5, as contrasted with Deuteronomy 5:4) when the people of Israel had much younger ears (Deuteronomy 5:3).  As if to underline the importance and durability of these "10 Words," not only are they spoken by God and then repeated, they are also inscribed and memorialized on stone in set form by the finger of God (Exodus 31:18).

In either instance, whether we are hearing these words spoken for the first time or hearing them repeated as a timely reminder--whether they are being traced by our fingers in memorialized stone or recited as part of the worship liturgy--it is important for us to hear and experience them as altogether the Word of God.  This is true even even when we hear these 10 Commandments mediated to us by the preaching and teaching of ordained religious leaders.  By placing emphasis on these "10 Words" as the Word of God, we remind ourselves of the promise and power that accompany the proclamation, hearing, and keeping of them.  God's Word always accomplishes God's purpose (Isaiah 55:11).  The Word of God created the heavens and the earth, and calls each day into being.  (Genesis 1, Psalm 33:6, Psalm 50:1) The Word of God gives and restores life to the chosen people of God and to individuals. (Psalm 119:17, 25; Isaiah 40:1-5; Matthew 19:17)  The Word of God is sure and eternal; it stands forever. (Psalm 119:89, Isaiah 40:8)  The Word of God is the source of hope, strength, and comfort.  These "10 Words" are the Word of Life. 

These "10 Words" are also covenant words; they are constitutional words.  They are like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution all rolled into one.  These words create the people of Israel as the special people of God.  God first speaks these words from Mt. Sinai (or Mt. Hebron), where God's chosen people have camped following their deliverance from slavery.  The Hebrew people had until recently been slaves of the Egyptian Pharoah, bound to do whatever their master dictated. The Pharaoh's words and commands resulted in the people's weakness and death. (Exodus 1-2)  Now God is offering his people new life under another master.  These "10 Words" of God are commands from their new master, commands that will bring life instead of death.  And then these "10 Words" are also repeated in Deuteronomy 5 as the people are camped on the verge of the Promised Land.  And this reminder lets the people know that these words are completely relevant for every new situation in life.  Every new location, situation, and occupation will bring its unique challenges, but these "10 Words" are basic to their life anywhere and everywhere, any time and always.             

Why Not "The 10 Commandments"?

These ten words are, of course, delivered in the form of commandments.  God, their source, is the highest of authorities.  God's word demands obedience.  There is no "please" or "perhaps," no "maybe" or "probably."  We all know the preferred format: "Thou shalt not!"  These are words that require our participation, our keeping and performing in order to achieve the purpose for which God has spoken them.  If these "10 Words" are to become the Word of Life for us, they cannot remain ink on a page or bits and bytes displayed on a screen.  Like the instructions for a vigorous workout routine, they must be followed regularly in order to do their good work in us and deliver abundant life.  Reading and reminding ourselves of them occasionally is not enough.  They must be eaten like our daily bread and carried around with us like an indispensable light on every dark night in order to benefit us with life and light.  (Deuteronomy 8:3, Psalm 119:105)  However, these words are more than merely commandments.  They are more than mere legal requirement.  Given their central importance, the time and place where they were spoken, and especially their author, these words are indispensable.  These "10 Words" are the Word of God, the Word of Life.  These are, as we will discover in the next ten weeks, truly "10 Words to Live By"!

Why Use "10 Words" If 2 Words Will Suffice?

Sometimes Christians will downplay the importance of these "10 Words" of God by appealing to Jesus' summary of the law and the prophets:

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked [Jesus] a question to test him. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"  He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."    (Matthew 22:34-40, NRSV; see Mark 12:28ff.)

Together these two statements do truly summarize the whole of the Word of God and especially these "10 Words" that we are now studying.  As has often been noted, the very structure of the "10 Words" invites the sort of summary that Jesus gave. The first half has to do especially with our relationship to God (Love the Lord your God!) and the second half concerns our relationship with other people (Love your neighbor!).  But even Jesus did not always appeal to this shorthand summary (see, for example, Mark 10:19).  There are times, especially when we get lost in the details of life and somehow lose focus on the really important things, the purpose and real meaning of the particular rules and commandments by which we order our lives, that we need things simplified.  But there are other times in life when a general summary all too easily obscures the particular demands of a commandment and just does not provide the specificity we need about how to live.  In those times the generalized summary may serve as a means of avoiding the specific command.  Keeping the letter of the law is no guarantee that we are keeping the spirit.  On the other hand, the spirit of the law is rarely, if ever, preserved in the breaking of a specific commandment. Sometimes it helps to simplify.  And sometimes it is important to "complexify," to provide for the keeping of specifics.

Are there 10 or 9 or 11 Words?

Though the Bible itself designates these as "The 10 Words" (Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13, 10:4), it does not provide a numbering system to tell us which is the first commandment and which is the tenth.  Jewish and various Christian traditions have diverged in the numbering systems they employ for the commandments.   They do this, for example, by starting the 10 Commandments with different "words."  In Jewish tradition, the first word is 1) "I am the LORD your God" (NRSV) or "I, the LORD, am your God" (TNK).  For Christians, this sentence about YHWH, the God who delivered the Hebrews from bondage to Pharaoh, is either understood to be a Prologue to the commandments or a preface to the 1st Commandment.  In Protestant-Reformed tradition (Presbyterians and the like), the commandments are understood to actually start with the first verbal command: 1) "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (KJV).  On the other hand, Lutherans (and some Catholics who still follow an older tradition), combine the first two commands and number these together as the first word of the decalogue: 1) "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" and "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image."  Jewish tradition also combines these first two commands (numbering them as the 2nd Commandment) to arrive finally at "10 Words"--and the Lutheran/Catholic tradition must split apart the two commands about coveting into the 9th and 10th commandments in order to maintain the full number: 9) "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife" and 10) "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house" (anything belonging to a neighbor).  Confused?  There is an excellent chart illustrating the different numbering systems in the Wikipedia article on the Ten Commandments.

Discussion Questions

Read Exodus 20:2-6 and Deuteronomy 5:6-10

1.  Have you ever been enslaved to something or someone?  How did it feel?  Was it life-giving or life-sapping?  Is there something--a habit, a desire, work or career, money or a relationship--in which you are trapped and from which you are needing freedom?  How would hearing or doing one or more of these commandments help to free you from such a situation?

2.  The 10 Commandments were important for Israel at various stages in their life with God, especially when they were first given their freedom from Egypt and when they began life in the Promised Land.  When in your life have the commandments been important?  Can you imagine a circumstance or situation when it would be important to remember them?  Did you ever memorize them?
 
3.  Why do you think there are 10 Commandments?  What would be different if it were "The 2 Commandments" or "The 100 Commandments"?  Do you agree with Martin Luther (1483-1546) that "Anyone who knows the Ten Commandments perfectly knows the entire Scripture" (The Large Catechism)?

4.  Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 20-24 makes it clear that the 10 Commandments have a special place in the life of families, the home, and children.  Have you ever tried to teach one of the commandments to a child?  Share a memorable experience when your parents tried to teach you to follow one of the commandments.  Did you learn the lesson?  Has it been valuable in your life?

5.  What is your favorite commandment and why?  How has following this commandment created a new, different, and better life for you than the one you had or imagine you might have had if you had continued to break it?  What gave you the strength or courage to change?

6.  Was there a particular time or stage of your life when one of the commandments took on a special meaning for you?  Historically, churches have required study of the commandments for children at confirmation and for adults seeking baptism.  Do you think that a person should know the commandments before joining the church?

7.  Do you view the 10 Commandments as law?  Do you think of them as rules?  Do you have a negative view of their usefulness?  How might the commandments be used in a way that hurts more than it helps?  Do you think it was God's intent to "rain on their parade" when he gave the 10 Commandments to the Hebrews?  Should the commandments be displayed either inside or outside a courtroom?

8.  The Word of God is creative and "keeps us alive" (Deuteronomy 6:24).  Can you think of a way that one of these "10 Words" of God might create something new in you or help you live more fully?

9.  Can "10 Words" spoken some 3,000+ years ago really be relevant today?  How so?

10.  The purpose of this study is to transform our hearts, our minds and our lives.  For the Word of God to do that for us, we must begin to put into practice what we read.  Each week our discussion questions will end with suggestions for new ways of practicing the Word.  Will you commit to the adventure?  Will you try out one new step toward greater obedience to God each week?  One Word will transform your week--and 10 Words will transform your life.  10 Words in 10 Weeks!  Can you name all 10 Commandments?  Try to memorize these "10 Words" this week.

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Copyright © 2010 by Gregory L. Glover